49ERS / No Morgan – so more Walker?

As they search for another wide receiver, the 49ers could turn to a … tight end?

In the wake of a potential season-ending injury to wideout Joshua Morgan, San Francisco, down to three healthy wide receivers on its 53-man roster, figures to make even more extensive use of tight end Delanie Walker in its game at Detroit on Sunday.

On Monday, Walker said the coaching staff approached him earlier this year about playing wide receiver if the need arose. Walker didn’t seem to think such a move is imminent, but he did foresee the 49ers using formations with two or three tight ends even more than they have in the season’s first five games.

“They talked about it earlier, way earlier, if something happened, I could be” playing wide receiver, said Walker, a wide receiver at Central Missouri State. “But, you know, we’ve got the receivers that can step up. Kyle (Williams) can step up and do his job well. I think we just might run a lot of two (tight ends), three (tight ends), just to help that out because Josh Morgan is a big asset in this offense.”

Morgan had surgery Monday after breaking a bone in his lower right leg late in the fourth quarter of the 49ers’ 48-3 win against Tampa Bay and could be lost for the season.

The Niners, who have had four wide receivers active for each game this season, will add a wide receiver to their 53-man roster this week, head coach Jim Harbaugh said. San Francisco will bring in receivers for workouts, and its two wideouts on the practice squad, Joe Hastings and John Matthews, are candidates to be elevated to the active roster.

Former 49ers wide receiver Dominique Zeigler and Lance Long, among the team’s final roster cuts in September, are candidates for tryouts.

Any wideout added to the active roster this week might be merely a one-week stopgap. Harbaugh said wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in September, probably will be available after the bye week for the game against Cleveland on Oct. 30.

Against Detroit, wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Ted Ginn will start, with Williams, who has three career catches, as a backup.

Harbaugh didn’t say Walker, 27, would move to wide receiver against the Lions, but he said that, in effect, Walker has acted as a wideout this season. Harbaugh noted that opponents routinely bring in an extra cornerback when the 49ers use a formation featuring two wide receivers and two tight ends, Walker and Vernon Davis.

In two seasons as a wide receiver at Central Missouri State, Walker had 113 catches for 1,347 yards. He has nine catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Walker’s blend of speed and size (6-foot, 242 pounds) makes it difficult for linebackers to cover him. He ran by Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer on a 29-yard touchdown pass in a 27-24 loss to Dallas. On Sunday, he beat Bucs linebacker Dekoda Watson on a 26-yard touchdown pass.

“He is that option and has been that option and has been fulfilling that role all season,” Harbaugh said. “… We look at him as a tight end, receiver and blocker. He gives us great flexibility, and that’s why we think so much of Delanie.”